Carrie Patterson

Executive Director

About

Carrie Patterson is the Executive Director at MindUP™ | The Goldie Hawn Foundation. Carrie has a long and extensive career specializing in non-profit and youth development organizations. Carries holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Wilfred Laurier University. Carrie brings with her a wealth of knowledge to MindUP from her previous role as Chief Operations Director of the global organization, WE Charity. At WE Charity Carrie played an integral role as the leader of WE Schools, an innovative experiential service-learning program that engages educators around the world to empower youth with the skills, knowledge and motivation to bring positive change in themselves and the world. Carrie was instrumental in new program development and the implementation of a number of programs including: WE Well-being, a program focused on social and emotional learning and the promotion of positive well-being in young people, WE Teachers, a program focused on creating trauma-informed classrooms and building teacher capacity, AP with WE Service, a program combining the academic challenge and rigor of Advanced Placement® with WE’s service-learning model in partnership with the College Board. In her role, Carrie is responsible for supporting the CEO in the areas of strategic planning, the digital transformation of the MindUP program, online training, fundraising, partnerships, and the overall operations of the organization.

“With my hand on my heart, I can truly say MindUP has transformed and changed the climate of our school. MindUP is not just a program but a way of being.”

Sam Goodlad, Principal, Australia

“Real world, every day experiences helped students understand the difference between mindful and unmindful. Examples like holding the door for someone at Wawa got students thinking about times they have experienced people being unmindful or they have been unmindful themselves.”

Eighth Grade Teacher

“My fourth grade class loved the mindful smelling activities! We took the opportunity to share connections we have made to places or experiences from simple scents. Many of the kids shared smells from their grandparents’ houses, seasonal activities, etc. I was impressed with the dialogue that took place after the ‘secret smelling’ activity that we did!”

Fourth Grade Teacher

“I think the lessons have been going super! The kids are using the brain language and understanding the function of the three parts. For example, we talk about calming our amygdala after lunch and recess. I have heard them using the terms in their everyday talk. So far it is going really great. I don’t have anything that hasn’t worked yet.”

Kindergarten Teacher

“MindUp provides consistent and ongoing opportunities for students to practice their social emotional learning skills. As a CASEL SELect program it has extensive research to back its effectiveness.”

Jane Tasker

“Social emotional learning is as important for students as academic learning. The MindUP Curriculum beautifully combines both by teaching our students about their brains while they learn important skills that create joyful and harmonious classrooms.”

Rita D. Perez

“One of my pupils was suffering from depression. He’d never has a friend due to some language processing problems. During the gratitude practice, he heard how important he was to other boys in the class. The difference was extraordinary, and his parents say he is so much happier and now has children come over to play.”

Barbara K

“An unexpected outcome of the application of the MindUP curriculum is the impact on the well-being of our staff. Through planning and application of the MindUp lessons in their classroom, staff have found a positive impact on themselves personally. It is as if MindUP has an adult SEL outcome through use. Staff are better able to bring their best self to the classroom and home each day. ”

Assistant Superintendant